Update and new features/changelog part one news

Greetings Warsword fans

By now we had hoped that any new article we posted would be to confirm release but unfortunately testing revealed some issues, particularly concerning models and animations, which have to be fixed before we consider releasing. We have all been working through them and luckily Del has had the time to come back and help us fix a lot of them.

Right now all of the major coding is done. All that remains on that front is tweaking and balancing and fixing a few issues which are popping up as we continue testing. Model wise I am waiting on one last pack of new models, some minor fixes and one major fix for the new orcs. My estimate is that we are still a couple of weeks away from release although we cannot say for sure until the all the model work is finished and we have done a bit more testing.

Rest assured the things we are delaying for are issues that simply have to be fixed. We are not holding back until every last problem is fixed, there will be small issues here and there (there always is) but anything significant we aim to tackle first.

I plan to post up the changelog before release and to start off I will talk about some of the newer features which are going to be included.

Combat abilities

In the new version of warsword we have introduced combat abilities which will have significant influence on how battles play out and hopefully add a whole new tactical edge on how the player as a commander utilises their troops for maximum success.

Not every troop has a combat ability and some races are more associated with some abilities over others but as a player you will be able to purchase 3 of them from the arena master (price for each varies depending on your race). The ability to purchase abilities for your companions will be introduced in a later release but some companions do already come with their own pre assigned abilities. Regardless of race the player starts off with no abilities.

Combat abilities do not work in tournaments or the arena.

Combat abilities can be toggled on and off in the camp menu

Dodge:

This is a skill which gives a troop a chance to dodge any incoming attack. In order to maximise your dodge chance you need to invest in strength and athletics and have as low an encumberance as possible. The best dodge chance it is possible to achieve is 60% although this kind of chance is rare and associated with very experienced troops who wear very light to no armour.

Dodge chances against ranged weapons are reduced depending on the speed of the projectile, however investing in agility can help negate some of this penalty.

Troops which have dodge are all elves, all halfings, all assassin lines in the game, all samurai and monk class troops, ninjas, higher level pirates, vampires, amazons and ghosts/banshees (to simulate their ethereal nature).

Ignore pain:

Warhammer quest fans will recognise this skill and it is the ability to shrug off some of the blows you receive simply because you are that tough and don’t have time to bleed. The higher your ironflesh, the more damage will be disregarded when you take a hit.

Troops which have ignore pain are higher level orcs, all beastmen apart from ungors, higher level lizardmen, skaven troops from clan moulder and a few other individual troops.

Mighty Blow:

This skill gives you the chance to inflict extra damage with your melee weapon. The chance of activating the skill is roughly 1 in 3 although extra damage will vary depending on the roll and power strike rating. Not many troops have this skill and it does not have much effect until you have your power strike rating fairly high due to how strong the skill is.

Troops which have mighty blow are highest level beastmen, chaos, orc and lizardmen, some special troops and a few individual troops such as the dark elf executioner.

Those are the 3 skills you can purchase from the arena master.

Ward saves:

Ward saves can be purchased from the wizard Cyrus the Bright and they give you a chance of negating all damage completely. There is 6+, 5+ and 4+ ward saves in the mod and you can purchase them incrementally from Cyrus. They are very expensive but well worth the investment.

Troops in the game which have ward saves include many special character lords and a few troops such as ninjas, savage orcs and some bretonnian knights.

Some non purchasable skills:

Unbreakable: Troops with this skill will not break in combat or desert due to low morale. These include all of the undead, saurus, samurai, Bretonnian knights and some dwarves such as slayers.

Regenerate: Some troops will have a chance to regenerate their health either due to their nature such as trolls or mummies or through blessings such as the warrior priest or paladins. Some lords have regeneration through magical items as well. The player cannot purchase this as a skill but more than likely a magic item will be purchasable which will give the regenerate effect when in the inventory.

New economy and trading

To help the early game in a post freelancer mod gsanders (aka phosphor on modddb) has completely overhauled the way trading and investment works to make the warsword world more lucrative and to make the merchant class a more viable build. Towns are now set to specialise in certain goods with a realistic supply and demand system and trade routes have been set to try and keep the world economy going as the carnage continues.

Caravans often don’t reach their destination in warsword and to help solve this gsanders has introduced “royal traders” which are sea traders and port by coastal towns. They currently do not travel the seas and teleport to their destination (this may change later) but this helps make sure that certain port towns get their supplies and don’t become impoverished because the caravans cannot make the long journey there.

Revamped tournaments

Tournaments have changed a lot this time around in warsword. We have introduced mounts into tournaments now and each faction (bar pirates and dwarves) have their own personal choice of mount for combatants and every faction has their own set of tournament weapons and loadout chances so that the tournament experience differs from faction to faction.

The changes have meant that tournaments are more winnable at an earlier stage in the game although they are still tough.

Some towns have the benefit of being custom made by Jargon Darot or Captain Melon and these towns also have custom arenas which vary in size and design. The chaos and orc arenas for example are very compact and the enemy will be on you in seconds making for very frantic and fast paced rounds.

Kingdom patrols

All factions have patrols now instead of just some and they vary in size from the larger patrols of 50 – 60 to smaller scouting parties of about 12 – 20. These patrols are automatically generated and the amount generated depends on the amount of castles and towns owned by the faction.

The player will also benefit from these patrols and as you expand your kingdom they will start to patrol your lands and help defend you from your determined enemies.

That is all for now but I plan to write another update soon with a further update and more news on upcoming features and changes made from the last version.

Thanks for reading and we hope to bring more news soon.

Nameless Warrior